Joel Trudgeon
Assistant Professor of Cinema
Education
MA, Mass Communication: Screenwriting, CSU Northridge
BA, Radio, Television and Film, CSU Northridge
Joel Trudgeon was born in Red Deer, Alberta, and grew up on California’s Central Coast. He majored in film production at Allan Hancock College before transferring to CSUN, where he earned a BA in Radio, Television and Film and an MA in Mass Communication: Screenwriting. He also trained in improv at the Groundlings school.
Joel wrote and performed sketches as a writer and DJ for KBEAR 95.3 in Arroyo Grande. After his MA, he directed the independent feature Walden (2011). He has edited for the Salvation Army Vision Network, crewed live events, directed and edited multi-camera productions for Millennium Pro Wrestling, and produced content for gala events at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes.
He first taught Foundations of Media Writing at CSUN, has been adjunct faculty in the LACCD since 2014, and joined LACC’s Cinema department in 2017. Joel teaches production, history, genres, aesthetics and diversity, and loves helping new filmmakers connect with film history while making work that tells their own stories.